Image: Joanne Wood, co-curator of The Quiet Between

When Joanne Wood first arrived in the Peel region, the drive between Mandurah and Rockingham was still mostly bush.

“Now,” she says, “it’s almost entirely housing estates.”

That observation became the starting point for Jo’s first major curatorial project, The Quiet Between, a group exhibition for the Regional Arts Triennial, which explores the fragile margins of growth and belonging in the Bindjareb and Wilman Boodja.

For Jo, stepping into the role of co-curator for this exhibition represents a new chapter in a creative life that has already crossed continents, artforms and cultural institutions, from classical music study in New York and artist management in Europe to working behind the scenes at the Sydney Opera House.

Originally trained as a classical guitarist and textile designer, Jo spent much of the 1980s performing and teaching music with her then-partner.

“It was an incredible time,” she recalls. “We were travelling constantly for performances and living between cities.”

Along the way she held a variety of cultural roles, including working at the Australian Embassy in Vienna. When she eventually returned to Australia, she joined the Sydney Opera House as a project coordinator during the significant period when the building was being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

“You realise how much cultural history and care sits behind an institution like that,” she says. “It was fascinating to see the process from the inside.”

In 2011, Jo relocated to Western Australia after meeting her husband, who is originally from WA. The couple first settled in Perth, but it wasn’t long before they began looking for a quieter place to live.

 “A friend had a holiday house in Halls Head, so we came down to visit and immediately felt something shift. We both thought ‘this feels right.’”

The move south brought a slower rhythm of life for Jo, who has since focused on developing her practice as a printmaker—exhibiting, curating seasonal exhibitions and co-founding the Peel Printmaking Studio in Pinjarra. Over time, she has become deeply embedded in the Peel arts community, building strong relationships with artists and organisations across the region.

When Lotte Waters relocated from the Kimberley to take up the role of curator at the Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery, it was only natural that she invited Jo for coffee to gain insight into the local arts landscape. Around the same time, the gallery had been asked to host an exhibition as part of the third Regional Arts Triennial.

“At first Lotte thought I might help out as an assistant,” Jo says. “But when we looked at the brief more closely, we realised I was actually meant to curate the exhibition. A moment of terror for me.”

The project quickly evolved into a collaborative process. While Jo developed the curatorial concept and introduced Lotte to artists from across the Peel region, Waters provided guidance and support drawn from her extensive curatorial experience.

“It became a really valuable mentorship,” Jo says. “I could bring my knowledge of the local arts community, and Lotte could guide the structure and process of putting an exhibition together.”

The exhibition’s theme (and its response to the overarching Radical Futures framework) emerged from her own artistic interests in liminal spaces: the in-between places that sit on the edges of our everyday environments.

“I’ve always been drawn to the edges of things,” she says. “The backs of buildings, industrial zones, those quiet patches of bush between suburbs. Places people often overlook.”

Living in the Peel region sharpened that curiosity. The area is one of Western Australia’s fastest growing regions, where new housing estates, infrastructure and industrial shifts are rapidly reshaping the landscape. “When we first moved here, there were long stretches of bush between towns,” she says. “Now those spaces are filling in. The question that kept coming back to me was: how do we protect the quiet between?”

“What I loved was seeing how differently everyone interpreted the brief,” Jo says. “Some artists explored landscape very literally, while others responded to the feeling of those spaces, the sense of stillness or loss.”

Curating revealed an entirely new side of exhibition-making for Jo. “As an artist you’re usually focused on your own work,” she says. “Curating asks you to step back and think about how many different practices can sit together and create a conversation.”

The project involved months of coordination—writing the curatorial brief, inviting artists, organising studio visits, planning the catalogue and managing the complex logistics of installation. “A lot of the work is about relationships,” Jo reflects. “Every artist works differently, so communication and trust become really important.”

Image credits: Opening of The Quiet Between at Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery. All photography by Annetta Ashman | Alana Grant, Ode to Memory and Landscape, 2026 | Louise Alexander, A Stitch In Time, 2025 | Llynne Neil, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, 2026 | Deb Zibah, Resilience, 2026 | Joe Villeneuve, Held by Water, 2025

The Quiet Between opened at Mandurah Art Gallery in February 2026, bringing together new work by Louise Alexander, Gayle Bukey, Craig Duncan, Alana Grant, Patricia Hines, Gisela Züchner-Mogall, Llynnette Neil, Robin Thorne, Jane Whelan, Deb Zibah, Joie Villeneuve and Adam Lewin.

The exhibition spans a wide range of approaches, from large-scale installations and sculptural works to more intimate pieces, with some artists working at a scale or in materials they had never used before. Visitors have praised the depth and variety of the work, and the exhibition has already generated strong feedback within the local community. “One long-time supporter of the Mandurah arts scene even wrote a letter saying it was the best exhibition they’d seen in the region for years,” Jo says.

For a first-time curator, the experience has been both demanding and transformative. In many ways, the Triennial reflects something Jo values deeply: creating opportunities for artists and strengthening connections within the region.

“It’s been challenging, but also incredibly exciting,” she reflects. “Curating The Quiet Between has given me a completely different perspective on how exhibitions come together. It’s amazing to think that a single curatorial idea can ripple out across the state—now there’s all this new work, all these different perspectives, being shared.”

Radical Futures: The Quiet Between continues at Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery until 26 March. Find out more 

The WA Regional Arts Triennial 3: Radical Futures is funded with support from the WA Government. It is coordinated by Southern Forest Arts with support from ART ON THE MOVE through the Regional Exhibition Touring Boost. Project partners include John Curtin Gallery, Regional Arts WA, GalleriesWest and Kimberley Arts Network.